


Ethical Consumption

by Tabbyluna



Category: Skylanders (Video Games)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Identity Issues, Redemption, Teen Angst, at least it's about the process of redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23627569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabbyluna/pseuds/Tabbyluna
Summary: There were bad girls, and there were good girls. But what if you were caught in the middle?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Ethical Consumption

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to a lot of Kill la Kill songs and P!nk while writing this, and that's all you need to know about this fic.

It had been a long time since Dreamcatcher had actually gone shopping. When she ran away from home, she no longer had access to her family’s wealth. No money, no credit cards, nothing. So every time she saw something pretty that she liked and she wanted, she opted to steal it instead. It fitted the life of a criminal, a Doom Raider. But now, she was arrested and sent to be reformed at Cloudcracker. And one of the many messages which had been constantly drilled in her head was the fact that stealing was wrong. Which, she knew. She wouldn’t have self-identified as a criminal if she didn’t know. But they drilled that message through her skull anyways. 

At least, at first. After some former villains successfully reformed and denounced their old evil ways, they advocated for a reformation of the old prison system. And within a few months, Dreamcatcher went from a system which reminded her of her old, restrictive, dull life as a boarding school student, to a system intended to reform through more compassionate means. Skylanders tried to befriend them now. Talking to them, trying to understand them. Hoping that through friendship and understanding, things would be better and there would be a higher rate of reformation. There was still a layer of condescension when they talked to her though. And for the most part, that attitude the Skylanders had, that aura which screamed the message ‘I’m better than you because I didn’t choose a life of crime’, was what stopped her from opening up to them.

There were exceptions here and there. A couple Skylanders actually treated her pretty alright, and she didn’t mind being around them. At least, she didn’t mind as much. Enigma was pretty patient with her, always willing to hear her out when she talked. As for non-Trap Masters, Hot Dog was fairly decent. He was a cheerful little pup, and like most puppies he was mostly free from prejudices. But though they were decent to talk to, they weren’t much fun to hang out with. 

Part of the new rehabilitation program involved allowing all those former villains to live somewhat normal lives, albeit under close supervision from the Skylanders. And for the most part, Dreamcatcher had wanted to try to go back to her regular life of an ordinary teenage girl. But it was kind of hard to have that when a mysterious shadowy man was always hanging over you. And it was possible with an adorable puppy, but it wasn’t applicable for all situations. Hot Dog was a darling, but she didn’t want to take him out shopping because that would bore him. But she liked shopping, and didn’t feel like giving that up. So usually, when she went out shopping, another young woman would be asked to tag along with her. 

For the most part, they minded their own business. They would stand in the corner and wait for Dreamcatcher to finish. And once she paid up, she would tag along and wait for her to finish. Occasionally, one of them would buy something. But she and the other ladies never really talked. And for the most part, Dreamcatcher didn’t mind it terribly. She was used to browsing shopping centres by herself. She didn’t need friends with her while doing this.

Nope, friends really weren’t necessary at all.

Sometimes, she did try to make smalltalk with the ladies. But it was awkward. One word answers, short stories without much elaboration. For the most part, they remained polite, but distant. Dreamcatcher told herself that she really didn’t mind. They probably didn’t have anything interesting to share anyways. Just like in boarding school, the goody two-shoes girls were dullards. She could get so bored whenever their attempts at conversation fell flat, that it hurt. And she was only trying to talk to them about stuff because the silence was annoying, nothing more and nothing less. When she saw them reunite with their friends after their shopping trips, she couldn’t possibly be envious. Who could possibly be envious of a goody goody who’s friends with other stupid little good guys, anyways? 

She didn’t feel rejected in the slightest. No siree.

Despite that, she still continued to try to converse with them whenever they went out shopping. Not because she really wanted to connect with them or anything. Nothing like that. It was just because it was awkward if they didn’t talk, and she hated feeling awkward. That was all. By the end of six months, she had a rough outline for most of the ladies’ backstories, a superficial understanding about their personalities, and a rough idea about the type of foods they liked to eat. But she didn’t know much more about any of them. Their deepest thoughts, desires, or anything like that.

They were all shaping up to be an army of acquaintances, and Dreamcatcher prepared herself for that being her future.

*****

On these shopping trips, she usually never walked out with more than three bags. In the past, she could end up with tons of merchandise on one trip alone. But because it was immoral to steal, the only stuff she could get was the stuff she could afford with her allowance. It was a fairly sizable allowance for someone her age, but it wasn’t as hefty a sum as she used to get, back when she still lived with her parents. 

Still, it was better than nothing. She learned to make do, trying to find bargains and sales. She hated the fact that she needed to resort to finding things on sale now, but it was better than nothing. Fortunately, none of her old friends knew that this was what she became.

Well, there was Persephone. But she had changed so much that it really didn’t matter what they thought of each other anymore.

But though she was supposed to do the ‘good’ and ‘moral’ thing, buying things that she could afford, being nice to the retail workers, blah blah blah, sometimes the temptation to steal comes back. At first, she tried to ignore it because of the Skylander lurking over her shoulder. But over time, strangely enough, the temptation got less and less strong. In fact, she found that some days the thought never even crossed her mind. 

She wasn’t sure what that was saying about her. But any worries or deep introspection she probably should have been doing ended up being pushed to the back of her head. Away to some metaphorical dark, dusty corner, where she doesn’t have to confront it or even think about it if she doesn’t want to.

And so that became of her little shopping trips. It was supposed to be a space for her to be a regular teenage girl. To adjust to life again, and hopefully be released from prison and allowed to become a regular civilian. Sometimes she wondered what her parents would say, whether her old friends would accept her, whether life could return to being as normal as it once was when she was younger. But she tried to push those thoughts to the back of her head too. Ironic as it may seem for someone with dream manipulation as a power, but she got pretty uncomfortable dealing with those kinds of thoughts. 

However, there was a thought that managed to worm itself to the front of her mind, time and time again. No matter how much she tried to suppress it with frivolous thoughts of clothes and bows, she could never stop herself from thinking it and kind-of-sort-of dwelling on it. 

And it was this idea that she technically isn’t adjusting back into being a regular teenager. 

She had already spent most of her teenage years being a notorious criminal, and soon, one of these days, it’ll be her birthday and she’ll become an actual grown adult. This life of a regular teenager would eventually need to be something she should grow out of. She knew that because she’ll be an adult soon, she didn’t need to worry about dealing with her parents. She could just get a place to live by herself. No need to ever return to her old home, which was a relief. 

But a part of her felt lost. Like pieces of her identity were being chipped away from her slowly, and sooner or later she would have to try and rebuild her sense of self from scratch again. Except, she didn’t really know where to begin. She knew she couldn’t really go back to being a criminal again, not just because she didn’t want to deal with jail time, but also because it no longer felt right. But on the other hand, pretty much everyone around her expected her to turn into someone happy and smiling and polished. A paragon, an example. Proof that no one was doomed to remain a villain forever. Perky, fully redeemed, with no struggles blending in with Skylands at large.

And if she was going to be honest with herself, even though she knew she wasn’t exactly a bad girl, there was no way she could live up to that ideal of being a good girl either.


End file.
